


Rated L - A Series of Septiplier Prompt Fills

by Siaht



Category: Septiplier - Fandom, Video Blogging RPF, Youtube RPF, jacksepticeye, markiplier - Fandom
Genre: Budding Love, Fantasy, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Multi-Themes, One Shot Collection, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prompt Fic, Romance, Shrinking, prompts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-31
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-28 12:56:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7641088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Siaht/pseuds/Siaht
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Opened my Tumblr Ask for Septiplier prompts. Fills will be posted both there and here. Ratings will vary.</p><p>Wanna prompt? septiplierplayer @ Tumblr is where you can do it. Hit that Ask button like a boss :)</p><p>Will not take prompts left here.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prompt #1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #1:
> 
> So Jack, Mark and their YouTube friends hang around for New Years Eve, during the countdown Mark and Jack keep teasing a Septiplier kiss and when it reaches 1 Felix forces them to kiss and everyone loses it

This doesn’t happen every year.

Mark is always reluctant on spending special holidays such as New Years Eve away from his family. He already spends most of the year away, and for the past five years or so his mother takes his year end visit as granted to make up for the time that they don’t see each other. So it isn’t without a persistent feeling of guilt clinging to his chest that he watches the fireworks shoot up into the sky, deafening as ever and almost completely blocking off the music blaring through the speakers strategically placed across his terrace to entertain his guests. He holds a tall plastic cup filled with apple soda - the closest thing to cider he could find - and sustains his gaze up, a somewhat longing expression settled on his face. He really hopes his mom and brother aren’t missing him too much tonight.

With how many people are in his house right now, one of them was bound to notice him being standoffish all of a sudden.

“What’s on your mind?”

It’s a wonder he’s able to hear the soft and delicate voice of Felix’s girlfriend, Marzia, over all the noise in their surroundings. Mark turns and smiles at her.

“Thinking of home. I’m not very used to spending special dates like this away from them.”

She nods and her eyes follow another firework trailing upwards in the night sky before it explodes in a shower of colorful sparks.

“I know what you mean,” she says and Mark listens closely, afraid to miss her words. “I used to feel like that when I started spending the year end holidays with Felix. My family understands though.”

“Oh, mine does too. It’s just me, you know, I’m sentimental like this,” he laughs because it’s really true. He’s a sap and is plenty aware of it.

Marzia laughs with him.

“You really are,” she agrees, and Mark isn’t even bothered. “But hey, you’re hosting the best New Years Eve party I’ve ever been to, so you should cheer up and come party with us!” She pouts at him and shakes his shoulder playfully. That’s when Felix finds them; maybe he has a radar that beeps when Marzia touches another male that isn’t him.

“Why is my girlfriend over here?” He asks, at the same time weaving his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. That may or may not be something Mark wishes he had right now as well, someone to hug tight and be affectionate with the entire night, or the entire time, even. Someone he would surely love to kiss at the stroke of midnight.

“Mark doesn’t wanna party with us!” She exaggerates and makes Mark laugh again. Felix lets go of her and immediately starts pulling Mark towards the rest of their friends by the arm, giving him an earful while at it. Mark doesn’t even need it in all seriousness, but he doesn’t mind Felix’s efforts and is actually very grateful to have him, and all of them, there tonight. They’ve all left family behind to be there, so it would be almost offensive if Mark were to act gloomy all night.

The night goes on, the guilt goes away and everyone gets progressively more drunk, except for Mark, of course. And he doesn’t know if he’d rather be, but he thinks no, probably not, even though his sobriety makes it harder to shake off the fluttering of his stomach and tingling of his skin every time Jack touches him.

It’s the first time he’s seeing Jack drunk, and Mark can’t say he’s very surprised to learn that he’s the touchy-feely kind of drunk, much like himself when he was still allowed to drink alcohol.

“Awwww, I’m jealous!” Jack coos at the same time as he clings heavily to Mark’s left arm. “Felix and Marzia can kiss at midnight, I want a kiss too!”

Everybody is as drunk as Jack is, so everybody laughs. Mark kind of freezes.

“Is that why you’re clinging to Mark?” Bob asks, never one to miss an opportunity to tease Jack. Or anyone else, for that matter.

“Maybe,” Jack tilts his head sideways and rests his temple against Mark’s shoulder, fortunately failing to notice just how stiff Mark’s become.

“Hey, what happens in Mark’s New Years Eve party stays in Mark’s New Years Eve party man,” Felix chimes in encouragingly.

“It’s gonna be midnight in half an hour, you guys have time to decide,” Wade adds all too casually for Mark’s liking. He feels like all of them are reacting too naturally to the joke, and that maybe this isn’t really a joke. Or maybe he’s too sober to get it.

Jack just chuckles and never lets go of his arm, even when everybody moves on to another subject.

And another.

And another.

And the fireworks intensify.

And suddenly it’s…

“It’s five to midnight!” Wade shouts, because apparently he’s the one in charge of keeping track of the time. That’s when Jack decides to let go.

“I want to do this,” he says as he steps in front of Mark, and Mark isn’t sure anyone else even heard what he said, besides himself.

For a drunk person he has a lot of resolve in his eyes right now.

“Go home Jack, you’re drunk,” Mark jokes to try and calm himself down, and although Jack laughs at it he doesn’t budge. Mark notices in his peripheral vision that no one is paying them any attention; Felix and Marzia are already eating each other’s faces out and Bob and Wade are at the baluster watching the rapidly increasing amount of fireworks filling the sky.

“I really want to do this,” Jack insists, and whereas his laughter and smile fade his determination doesn’t. At all.

“It’s countdown time!” Mark hears Bob shouting in the distance.

“Jack.”

“Are you really gonna kiss??” This time it’s Wade yelling at them from behind, but Mark can tell he and Bob are coming their way.

Jack is staring at his lips now, and Mark starts feeling weak on the knees.

“Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen,” Bob’s counting. There’s definitely too many things going on at the same time and Mark doesn’t know what to focus on. His heart rate at this point is also very distracting.

“Nine, eight,” Bob and Wade are right next to them now. Mark feels less like they’re counting down to the New Year and more like they’re counting down to his and Jack’s first kiss.

“Jack,” he tries again, but doesn’t actually know what to say.

“Four, three, two.”

Shit.

“One!! Happy New Year!!” Bob and Wade shout in unison over the ear-splitting fireworks noise.

“Aw hell no you guys are gonna do it now!” Felix shouts directly behind Jack and shoves him towards Mark. Their bodies collide but their mouths don’t, thankfully because it could have hurt them, although Jack quickly closes what little distance had remained between them.

So they are kissing.

“Oh my god!!!!” Marzia lets out in a mix of scream and squeal, and Felix is all but hollering. Bob’s laughter is the next loudest thing he can hear apart from that and the fireworks.

But when Jack moans into the kiss, that’s the noise that drowns everything else out. Mark knows he will need this to happen more often. Much, much more often.

“Hey guys, it’s almost Christmas again and you’re still kissing,” Bob says jokingly, and to Mark’s surprise Jack pulls away, albeit gently.

Next thing he knows, Marzia latches onto the both of them, squealing excitedly and raving about how cute they are together and how happy she is for them.

Jack doesn’t look embarrassed when their eyes meet again, and Mark smiles.

Mark hopes he finds the courage to explain this to his mom before the next year end holidays, because this is the midnight kiss he will want for the rest of his life for sure.


	2. The Cure is in the Kiss (title suggested by the requester)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Opened my Tumblr Ask for Septiplier prompts. Fills will be posted both there and here. Ratings will vary.
> 
> Wanna prompt? septiplierplayer @ Tumblr is where you can do it. Hit that Ask button like a boss :)
> 
> Will not take prompts left here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt #2:
> 
> Mark and Jack pose for a fan only fall prey to a special ray gun that makes them both shrink, They have to band together and get to a safe place to hide and wait it out until they grow back to their natural heights. The cure though is they have to kiss each other, but they don’t know this!

It’s a matter of perspective, but Mark and Jack don’t know it yet.

What Mark knows is that he’s really excited to have Jack visiting again. It’s not anything new, it’s happened a handful of times, but Mark’s excitement only grows, and there’s a reason for that.

When a pair of arms snake around his middle, Mark’s heart beats harder, hurts. The reason is so obvious.

“Smells delicious,” a feminine voice tells him while he stares blankly at the stove. He places both hands over the ones laced together at his stomach and smiles, for the sake of sounding contented.

“Thanks, I hope it’s as delicious as it smells,” he forces out a chuckle. Amy nods and he feels the movement near his shoulder blades.

“You’re a good cook, Mark,” she nuzzles him and then unwraps her arms from his body, stepping around and leaning against the countertop, facing him. She’s sporting a single braid that rests on the crook of her neck, the tip almost reaching her bosom. Mark finds it cute on her. Just cute. “You should cook more, not only when the guys are here.”

Mark averts his eyes to the pot on the stove again; he doesn’t know whether she really means the guys or only Jack. Maybe he’s not the only one who thinks the reason is obvious.

“I’ll try, but you know I’m lazy,” he smiles again, sheepishly.

“You better,” she says, one corner of her lips twitching up in a playful smirk.

He won’t.

“This will take some more time to be ready, let’s go back outside,” Mark holds out his hand for Amy to take and she does promptly, smile fully in bloom. She also cranes her neck towards him and pushes out her lips, and Mark leans down to peck them. There’s no reason for her to think he isn’t happy, right? Even if she notices how his smiles don’t extend to his eyes.

But they do when he sees Jack.

Jack is outside with Ryan, Matt and the Team Edge guys: Matthias, Joseph and Bryan. They are already having a good time together and Mark has the urge to watch from the sidelines, watch how Jack mingles effortlessly because he’s too damn charismatic and funny, and there’s not a sane human being in the world that wouldn’t enjoy his company or want him around. Mark wants to watch the way he sits leaning forward with both elbows on his knees and pays each one of the guys singular attention, because he thrives in letting people know that he cares, if nobody else. He’s not the most extroverted person but his kindness makes up for it, and he doesn’t have to talk a lot or crack lots of jokes or impose himself; he just needs to be there and people will appreciate it. Mark will, at least.

A small hand on his own tugs him in their direction, and every pair of eyes are on the couple the moment they step outside.

“Mark, we have a problem,” Bryan points at the ice-filled thermal box placed at the center of their circular chair arrangement. There used to be beer bottles in there, but now they sit empty at the table behind Matt.

“Oh I can see that,” Mark nods with great amusement, his deep voice climbing up a few octaves to express that.

“Help us, Mark, we wanna get wasted,” Matt complements, face contorting dramatically to help convincing the host.

“Actually,” Amy turns in her heels and looks up at him, “I noticed we’re out of sugar too. And TP.”

“Dammit Mark,” Matt feigns indignation. “How could you risk leaving us without TP and sugar for a whole weekend?”

“Seriously man, if Amy wasn’t here to remind you of such basic item we’d be all screwed!” Ryan joins in on the friendly bullying.

“Amy’s too good for you, man!” Jack exclaims from his spot and Amy laughs, but Mark doesn’t have the heart to because Jack is right in more ways than he knows.

It’s a matter of perspective: she is, but then again she’s not.

“Clearly I have to fix this dire situation,” he says, and the next thing he knows a car key is being tossed his way, which he catches in the air with his free hand.

“Yeah man, hurry up, I don’t wanna sober up before you bring more booze,” the owner of that key, Matthias, tells him, and Mark is pretty impressed that he’s willing to lend him his car for the task. At least they don’t expect him to go buy alcohol and carry it all back home in plastic bags.

“Okay,” he acquiesces and untwines his fingers from Amy’s, the gesture bringing her eyes back onto his. “Can you watch the dumplings, please? I won’t be long.”

“Sure,” she nods with a smile on her lips. Mark doesn’t make a move to peck them again.

“Hey Jack, wanna come with me? You probably haven’t been to that part of the town yet,” he asks noncommittally, as though he isn’t craving some alone time with his guest from across the Atlantic.

Jack readily jumps up from his chair.

“Ready when you are,” he says, looking directly into Mark’s eyes for a wonderful moment.

Paradise is fleeting like that, Mark then thinks, a gaze that comes and goes before he can engrave it in his memory to relive at will.

That must be why he keeps trying.

 

**

 

Driving with Jack by his side should be more fun but it isn’t, just because Mark can’t take his eyes off the road to stare at him. Granted, it still feels awesome to have Jack’s undivided attention for a little while, listen to him talk and laugh and just engage Mark in some way or another; all those things Mark doesn’t really want to share with anyone else. It’s a stupid and selfish feeling, that much he will admit, but Mark has never cared about being stupid. And selfish? Well, it’s not like he would lock Jack away in a basement and deprive him of the wonders of the world. Mark just wishes they could experience those wonders together.

There’s a lot he wishes for when it comes to Jack.

Those wishes become all the more evident to Mark when they’re at the mart, strolling along the aisles side by side. Mark pushes the cart and Jack stops every other second to pick up a product they don’t have in Ireland from the shelves, asking Mark if he’s ever tried this or that, telling him the differences between some products in America and back home. Mark nearly forgets the purpose of their little shopping trip; he wants to spend hours there with Jack if it means seeing more of him reacting so excitedly to the most mundane of things. He wants to grab Jack’s hand, pull him close and walk with an arm slung around his small waist, make plans of cooking together and eating together over a candlelit dinner. He wants everything he can’t have.

“I didn’t know until recently that gluten intolerance was so widespread,” Jack says with a bottle of water in hand. They’re finally at the beverages section to get the booze, the last items on their impromptu shopping list. The cart is fuller than it should have been if they had stuck to only the necessary stuff. “Even water bottles have to say it’s gluten free. Shouldn’t that be obvious?”

It’s an interesting question that Mark doesn’t get to reply before someone approaches them.

“Excuse me?”

Mark and Jack turn their heads at the newcomer. Mark always tries his best not to look annoyed whenever someone approaches him at places, because he really isn’t, but he’s not so good at disguising surprise. He does register that it was a male voice that addressed them, but it’s still surprising to see a guy that looks pretty much their age standing there all by himself, no girls that could have coerced him into doing that around.

“Hello, hi,” the guy stammers a bit to greet them upon getting their attention; he’s clearly a fan if the way his eyes gleam and his smile almost reaches his ears is anything to go by. “I’m sorry for interrupting, I see that you guys are clearly busy, but could I have a photo of you?”

“Sure, no problem, man,” Jack answers first, in his bubbly demeanor that Mark knows isn’t just for show.

“You wann’a selfie?” Mark asks, gesticulating somewhat awkwardly.

“No, I just want a photo of you together, is that alright?”

Mark could bet money that the same thought crossed both his and Jack’s mind at the guy’s request: shipper. It wouldn’t be the first time someone asks for a photo of only the two of them together, only for it to end up online and become their shippers’ new item of veneration. It is the first time that a male fan does it, though.

“Yeah, it’s alright,” Mark walks up to Jack, who has just put the water bottle back in the shelf. “Your pose?”

Jack huffs out a laugh and the fan positions his phone for the snapshot.

“Yeah,” Jack says, and they both place one hand over their faces, with their fingers spread apart and the best badass look they can pull.

Mark notices that the guy’s phone’s camera flash is blue.

After the click, the blue light temporarily blinds him; it takes a few blinks for everything to come back into focus again, and then Mark gets to watch the very last moments in which everything is getting super-sized around them.

That’s also a matter of perspective though: their surroundings aren’t getting bigger, it’s him and Jack that are getting smaller.

 

**

 

It feels like the blue lights bursting behind his eyelids will never stop, but a sense of extreme urgency makes Mark open his eyes sooner than he would like.

Immediate disorientation is the first thing that happens when he does. The world has become ten thousand times vaster, there’s no horizon in sight and seemingly no end to the white-tile expanse they’re standing on. Mark’s thoughts are jammed, survival and logical instincts that are usually mutually exclusive trying to take over at the same time.

However, the one instinct that does come through is the protective one, because next thing he does is pull Jack under the closest aisle shelf with him, the same one they were getting their beers from a minute ago. Jack is otherwise paralyzed.

“Jack,” Mark calls softly, holding him by the arms. His eyes are wide and his mouth ajar. “Jack, are you listening?”

To Mark’s momentary relief, Jack moves his head and looks around.

“What’s happening, Mark? Where are we?” He sounds so genuinely confused, as though regaining consciousness after being knocked out for some time.

Mark purses his lips, heart constrict again.

“We’re still at the mart, Jack. I don’t know what happened. I think we’ve been shrunk.”

He doesn’t expect an instant response. Jack keeps looking around listlessly as if his brain can’t register anything.

“It’s okay, Jack. We’re going to be okay,” Mark tries to reassure him, squeezing his arms comfortingly. He sees Jack’s Adam’s apple bob up and down as he swallows, and feels his cold hands grab his forearms before Jack’s eyes land on him again.

“This is not possible.”

“I agree, it’s not, but somehow it is,” Mark says calmly because Jack needs that right now.

“We need to get back to your house.”

That’s when Mark’s confidence falters. He has absolutely no idea how they will be able to do that.

“We’ll find a way.”

 

**

 

At least their clothes and accessories shrunk down with them, Mark reasons with Jack as they walk below the shelf, protected from feet and cartwheels. The same cannot be said about everything else that had been in their pockets, and if Mark is going to be honest, he’s terrified to think what that guy might do with the wallet, phone and car key he most likely dropped at the scene.

Jack still looks fearful and almost psychotic, eyes constantly darting around as if searching for a prey that won’t reveal itself. Mark can’t blame him; this is beyond fucked up.

“But why us?” He asks, and it suddenly occurs to Mark that their voices are still the same too, which’s just another bullet point in the list of things that don’t make sense right now.

“I don’t know man, but I’ll go out on a limb and say he probably wasn’t really a fan,” Mark tries for a little humor to lighten the mood. It goes over Jack’s head.

“I don’t understand, if he wasn’t a fan then how did he know us?”

“He could be an anti-fan.”

“So to get rid of us he shrinks us?”

Mark cocks his head and shrugs.

“That’s one way of getting rid of someone, I guess. I mean, given you know how to shrink people.”

The thought doesn’t stop being ridiculous even though they’re experiencing it firsthand, so they both end up chuckling in disbelief. Mark looks at Jack and Jack looks back. His soul seems to be back in his eyes and Mark’s smile lingers.

It’s a matter of perspective: they’re fucked, but they have each other.

When they reach the end of the shelf they halt, making sure to stay sheltered by the structure that now looks as tall as a skyscraper. Mark doesn’t need to look at Jack again to know that he’s equally marveled by the sight before them.

“Holy shit,” he says in his heavy accent, and the familiarity of it has a soothing effect on Mark’s panicked mind. He’s trying to act collected but he doesn’t know how long he’ll manage to.

For reasons that physics certainly can explain, everything seems to be playing in slow motion in front of their now tiny selves: people’s pace as they walk through the corridor pushing carts, carrying baskets or nothing at all. Their size and the size of the mart itself now is incomprehensible, and Mark assumes that’s how one must feel standing next to the Grand Canyons.

People’s voices and every other sound coming from up above are also altered; it’s all white noise, undistinguishable, and contrary to what he would have guessed, not painfully loud. To Mark, it’s like when the wind is blowing strong and incessant, disrupting and jumbling all the sounds around them, but oddly enough this doesn’t feel as annoying.

“Would anybody notice us if we stepped out?” Jack asks after a moment or two of perplexity.

“Do you ever notice ants on the floor when you’re walking through a mart?”

“Well, yeah, sometimes I guess,” he shrugs, sounding more like himself each passing minute, which’s definitely a good thing. “Do you think we’re the size of ants?”

“I think so, but I really hope we don’t find one to prove me right,” Mark muses, the possibility genuinely worrying him.

Now that a good few minutes have passed since they were hit by the shrinking ray, and now that he isn’t as worried about Jack not recovering from the shock, Mark’s logical thinking starts kicking in.

“If we want to get out,” he begins, crossing his arms over his chest and then placing a finger on his chin, poking it repeatedly while his mind works, “we need to follow the people into the checkout line.”

“How do we know which people are going to checkout though?”

Mark hums and narrows his eyes in a pensive fashion.

“I’d assume the ones with full carts or baskets?”

Jack doesn’t respond, instead making a thoughtful face of his own.

“I don’t know,” he says and huffs exasperatedly, placing his hands on his hips. Mark casts him a quizzical look.

“You don’t know...?”

Jack tuts, overflowing with hesitation.

“Do we want to go there? Do we really want to go outside?”

Mark’s expression becomes even more confused, but then he sees where Jack is coming from. What are the chances of them surviving outside, where there’s cars and insects and just so many things that could easily crush them? Even if they managed to stay alive, how in the world would they get back to Mark’s house miles away from where they are?

Mark exhales, glancing ahead again.

“Yeah, maybe not. It’s safer in here.”

He’s beginning to feel impotent in the face of the situation, which is the worst thing that could happen right now. He needs to stay composed, needs to be there for Jack and make sure they get through this with minimal trauma. He can’t begin to imagine why this is happening to them, but Mark believes there’s a reason for everything in life.

And again, it’s a matter of perspective: he wanted Jack all for himself, didn’t he?

“I’m hungry, let’s go find something to eat?” Jack asks, oblivious to Mark’s internal conflicts.

Mark nods at him. 

Jack turns on his heels and Mark lets him walk ahead, guilt and fear trickling into his system like an IV drip as he stares at his friend’s back.

 

**

 

Bizarre is the word Mark goes with when describing the present situation in his head: he’s helping Jack climb to the bottom-most shelf in the snacks aisle, so he can push a bag of Doritos off it and they can eat it under that same shelf.

Then again, in what other scenarios would they need each other’s help so much? Only the craziest ones, that’s for sure.

They need to be fast to take advantage of the miraculously empty aisle, and Mark has Jack lifted by his knees so he can pull himself up onto the shelf. Mark doesn’t fail to notice the way Jack’s t-shirt rides up his sides as he stretches to grab the ledge, and the urge to touch Jack there has him almost transfixed.

“Mark, can you try to throw me a little higher?” Jack squeaks, a little breathless from all the effort. It’s a wonder that Mark even hears him with how much he’s distracted by the small patch of exposed skin.

He does though and does as Jack asks, flexing his own knees to gain some impulse before throwing Jack a little more upwards, now holding him by his ankles.

“Is that good?” He asks, trying to see how Jack is faring up there, but his vision is mostly blocked by Jack’s body.

“I got it.”

“You sure? Can I let go?”

Jack grunts a little more but Mark feels the weight being lifted off him, so he loosens the grip around his ankles.

“Yeah yeah, got it,” Jack says, with his top half already on the shelf. Mark stands there watching him and looking out for anyone that could potentially spot them.

“I’m gonna stay under the shelf, so when you push the bag I’ll pull it under here immediately,” he tells Jack and gets a thumbs up from him before disappearing from his sight.

“Here it goes, Mark!” He hears just moments later, and suddenly a gigantic bag of Doritos falls right in front of his eyes, producing even wind.

That’s when he realizes that it won’t fit under the shelf. Once Jack rejoins him, he seems to realize the same thing.

They look at each other, and it dawns on Mark again how ridiculous this is. He smiles another lingering smile despite himself, and Jack reciprocates it.

“What do we do?” Jack asks without tearing his eyes from Mark’s.

“Well,” he thinks for a moment, averting his eyes just enough to focus on the problem-solving, and then looks at Jack again. “If nobody appears we can try to open it, ‘cause I’m sure it will fit in here without all the air in the bag.

It’s a plan, and they execute it quickly albeit not effortlessly: it takes a whole lot more strength to open a bag of chips that is twice your size, and each of them has to pull one side in order to make it. Emptied of most air, the bag fits nicely under the shelf with them, and the smell of Doritos makes their stomachs grumble.

“I didn’t realize how hungry I was until now,” Mark says, staring at the open bag. Some of the chips in there are almost the same height as them, so he also wonders how exactly they’re going to eat them.

Jack doesn’t waste any time though, and just enters the bag to grab a chip and break it with his hands; fortunately it’s very thin and offers no resistance.

“We could live off this bag of Doritos for a week,” he says, bringing back a chunk for Mark and taking a bite off his own. Mark accepts it with a grateful smile.

“Yeah,” he looks down at the chip piece staining his hands with the red from its condiment. His heart sinks, and he can’t pinpoint the reason why because there’s lots of reasons why. “Yeah, we could.”

 

**

 

Jack’s estimation of how long the bag of Doritos would last for them is most likely not wrong; they eat two chips between them and it’s enough for them to get full.

They fall into a contemplative silence after that, sitting side by side and leaning back onto their dirty hands, legs outstretched, Mark’s crossed one over the other and Jack’s spread apart.

If their perception of time hasn’t been skewed as well in light of being shrunk, then at least two hours have passed since the event, and three or three and a half since they left Mark’s home. There is no indication of things going back to normal whatsoever, and it’s impossible not to start feeling deflated, if not a little bit scared.

“You know, I just wanted to understand,” Jack broods beside him, and Mark sees him shake his head in his peripheral vision. He turns his head to fully look at Jack as if urging him to continue, and he does. “I just wanted to know why, you know? If my family is never going to see me again, if my girlfriend is never going to see me again, if this is where my life ends, then I just wanted to know why.”

Mark nods in understanding and sighs. It’s the best response he can offer right now, with how his insides are twisting and pulling and making him a little nauseous, not from the junk food they ate but from the guilt and fear and jealousy mixed with it in his stomach.

“Do you think they’re looking for us?”

Mark purses his lips.

“Probably. They’re probably trying to get a hold of us, or maybe they even called the police by now.”

“Shouldn’t we be trying to get somebody’s attention, then? Like, spell help with Doritos on the floor or something? We’re not invisible,” Jack reasons and Mark shrugs, visibly annoyed. “Mark? What’s wrong?”

Mark would run his hands through his hair and face if they weren’t coated with Dorito condiment. Instead, he just shakes his head vigorously and huffs.

“You’re right Jack, we should be doing that. I don’t know why I’m not doing that right now. I don’t know a lot of things,” it all comes out a little harsher than he means to sound, but Mark feels just so frustrated with himself and his messy feelings that he can’t help it.

“What do you mean?” Jack presses, good-natured as ever.

“I mean that I’m a mess,” he says flatly.

Jack stares at him for long minutes, and Mark can practically hear his confusion. He hates how he let his mood sour and how fucking petty he is before such a life-threatening situation. But when has he ever been able to control his unruly emotions? Never, that’s when. Mark simply feels, feels love, feels regret, feels sorry, feels too much of everything for and because of Jack. And this is ruining his façade, ruining the walls he worked so hard to build in so little time because those feelings snuck up on him faster than he could defend himself, and the least he could do was try to defend Jack from them.

He no longer feels like the can do that, though.

“Mark, what’s bothering you?”

Mark snickers derisively at himself.

“Everything that shouldn’t be bothering me is bothering me.”

“Stop being vague Mark, say what you mean to say at once.”

There’s one of the traits he admires the most on Jack: for someone so nice, he certainly doesn’t beat around the bush and always tells it like it is. He is profoundly sincere, and Mark still thinks it’s refreshing even though Jack’s pressuring him into exposing his shameful feelings right now.

He clicks his tongue, giving in.

“I should be thinking about my family, my friends, my girlfriend, even myself, but I’m thinking about you,” Mark blurts and Jack just blinks, waiting for more because that doesn’t really explain anything. “I should be trying to come up with something to get us out of this situation, but instead I’m taking comfort in being with you. I should be thinking like you but I’m thinking of how much I like you,” he finishes the sentence looking at Jack, and sees the exact moment his words complete the puzzle inside his head.

“I asked you to come here with me because I wanted to spend time with just you, and this is all I can think of right now. You’re all I can think of right now, and most of the time,” Mark adds quietly and looks away again, unable to hold the intensity of Jack’s gaze any longer.

Jack digests the information in silence, and Mark doesn’t resent him for it. If Mark resents anyone, it’s himself for being reckless and allowing those feelings to grow so strong.

There are still bricks left in the wall though, so Mark steels himself, takes a deep breath and gets up.

“Where are you going?” Jack finally snaps out of his reverie and looks at Mark again, alarmed by the sudden move.

“To put those Doritos to good use,” Mark answers as he walks over to the bag again, trying his best not to sound bitter.

“Mark,” Jack calls after him as he stands up too, following him. “Mark, listen,” the earnestness in his voice makes Mark stop, staring at his own feet. He feels Jack in his space, right behind him.

“Look at me,” Jack demands.

Mark turns around and does as he’s told, like a puppy obeying a command from his owner. He is so weak for Jack, and the thing is, that doesn’t even bother him. He doesn’t mind being weak for Jack because Jack is the most wonderful person he knows, and it’s only natural that he would be weak for him, follow him around, do anything he wants.

It’s a matter of perspective: he could be a pushover, or, he could simply be head over heels in love with Jack. 

Mark thinks he knows which one applies to him.

He can’t not know looking at Jack so close like that, seeing his big, piercing blue eyes fearlessly search for his, wishing he could be half as bold, half as spontaneous, half as beautiful.

“You caught me by surprise,” he says in a much lower tone than his usual. It makes the atmosphere between them that much more intimate, and Mark’s skin gets covered in bumps in reaction.

“I figured,” Mark says, accepting the challenge and dropping his voice an octave as well.

“I liked it.”

Mark raises an eyebrow at the same time a small smile pushes itself onto Jack’s lips. Suddenly there’s nothing else Mark can look at.

“I could always surprise you again,” he says.

“I don’t think you could,” Jack counters, and neither of them would even be able to hear the other’s voice anymore if they weren’t standing so close.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I’m already expecting you to kiss me.”

Mark’s eyes dart back to Jack’s, searching for any hint of jest in them.

“So let me surprise you instead,” Jack says and, just like that, dives in to place his lips onto Mark’s, both drawing long breaths to prepare for the ride.

It only takes Mark as little as the first touch of their lips to decide that he never wants to kiss anyone else in his life.

They can’t use their filthy hands on each other, but their bodies touch and Mark feels a certain frenzy. He almost can’t steady himself as Jack gently probes his lips, stealing his breath but giving him life, moving ever-so-slowly not because he’s tentative, but because he needs to savor the moment, needs the sensation to last for hours, days, the whole eternity. Mark takes it upon himself to deepen the kiss and press harder against Jack’s pliant body and mouth, feeling painful thuds against his ribcage from the way his heart responds to the move.

His whole body trembles, and so does Jack’s.

Somehow, even high as he is from the kiss they’re sharing, Mark knows that’s not quite normal.

Their lips part and they’re both frowning.

“Mark, did you feel that?”

“Yes, I--“ Mark begins but a strong body spasm cuts him short. He takes a step back from Jack, and as soon as he does, he notices Jack’s feet enlarging, and then notices the same thing happening to his own.

Their eyes meet again, wide with shock, and they both jump out into the aisle before a serious accident involving huge shelves being knocked over, possibly onto themselves, can happen.

The spell, for some reason, is broken.

 

**

 

“Do you wish to press charges, Mr. Fischbach?”

It’s been a long day and the last place he wants to be is at that police station, but he understands that they had to be brought in for routine procedure, since both the marketplace and their friends had sought the police in light of the recent events.

The market’s security cameras had recorded step by step the fan’s actions, and he never got to set foot outside again before the police arrived to take him into custody. Apparently he really was a fan, claiming that he did what he did in the name of love, and that Mark and Jack would understand that once everything was over.

Mark does think that the means to the end were a little extreme, but also can’t deny that he understands the motivation behind the guy’s actions now.

Their friends had arrived into the police station shortly after Mark and Jack, all of them looking like death warmed over from worrying so much. Amy was a wreck and could barely stop crying, and Mark felt really bad for her.

But it’s all almost over, and Mark wants nothing more than to be home with Jack, work out the new dynamics of their friendship - or should he say relationship? Mark isn’t sure how everything is going to play out, but given that they’re no longer facing a life-and-death kind of situation, he believes they will be okay. After today, Mark really feels like there is nothing they can’t make work out. 

“No, I don’t want to press charges,” Mark tells the officer, and the look Jack gives him is unreadable, although Mark doesn’t feel like he’s disagreeing with the decision. In any case, it matters very little to the guy’s fate now, because regardless of Mark pressing charges or not he will still be investigated for carrying a dangerous shrinking device around and using it on people.

Mark doesn’t care. His and Jack’s lives are back to normal and there was no significant damage whatsoever. Or maybe there was, he doesn’t know; it’s a matter of perspective, anyway.

They could have died as best friends.

But now they are alive as possible lovers.

Mark doesn’t feel like punishing anyone for that.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are loved. Kudos are appreciated. New prompts are more than welcome.
> 
> Go to my Tumblr septiplierplayer and prompt away!


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